Purely Professional
by maxxysmommy
Summary: Just a quickie to relieve my boredom at work, Tony just letting his frustraion get the better of him.


**Hi guys, sorry its been a while, anyway this is just a quick one, courtesy of my complete and utter boredom at work the other day, flapjack and apple pie were not enough to occupy my mind so it wandered to this instead. Hope you like, please review, much love xx**

Tony and Ziva had been sat in their car for over 2 hours now; they were on stakeout, sat on the third floor of a parking garage in anticipation of a meeting between drug dealers, waiting for their informant to call them with the exact location of the meet. Tony had been quiet all day and Ziva was starting to worry, her attempts at conversation had returned little reward so far.

As she was about to ask what was wrong she was interrupted by the shrill ringing of her phone, seeing it was McGee she answered it.

"Hey McGee do we have anything yet?" she asked as Tony's thoughts remained occupied elsewhere.

She listened as McGee fed her all the information, clarifying names and descriptions before nudging Tony to pay attention.

"Thank you McGee, we will be in contact shortly," she ended the call, putting her phone back in her pocket and sliding round in her seat slightly so she was facing Tony.

"Are you ok?" she asked as his eyes finally met hers.

"I'm just peachy," he replied, offering her a weak smile as evidence, "so what are we doing then?"

"Ok well Corporal Edwards is meeting with Vermeijden on the next level up, they're in the bay next to the stairwell, not covered by the security cameras, but the informant is sure it's only the two of them, and they're in a blue Chevy Impala," she informed him, not really buying his reply but choosing to let it go for now.

"Well ok then, lets go get em," he replied, exiting the car and starting to walk over to the upwards ramp, leaving Ziva to run to catch him up.

As they reached the top of the ramp they peered over the wall, noting that the boot of the car was open and both men were preoccupied with the contents of it, neither Tony or Ziva could see exactly what it was.

"Ok, you ready?" Tony whispered as they simultaneously unholstered their weapons.

Ziva nodded in agreement, and with that they both began to move silently down the rows of cars, Ziva behind the cars nearest the wall, and Tony in front of the cars, moving in synch as per their well practised routine.

As they started to near the suspects, a whistle emanated from somewhere to their left and both men spun round, hastily closing the boot as they noticed the two agents stalking up behind them.

"Federal Agents," Tony shouted as he and Ziva trained their weapons on the men in front of them, "hands behind your heads you're both under arrest."

The men stood for a second as if contemplating their next move, then both turned heel and took off in the direction of the next upwards ramp opposite them.

"Oh crap," Tony muttered as he and Ziva took off after them. Edwards started to pull away from them whereas Vermeijden being a lot smaller and far less fit was soon within reach and Tony tackled him to the ground, wrestling until he had him pinned on his front.

"Nice try Vermeijden but I had a good breakfast this morning so I'm feeling quite energetic," he told him as relieved him of his gun then he slipped one handcuff on, whilst Ziva stood over them, gun aimed at the man in case he felt like making an escape.

"You good?" Ziva asked, picking the gun up. Seeing that Tony had Vermeijden under control and without actually waiting for a reply, she then stated "I will go and find Edwards."

"Ziva you can't just….." Tony argued as he slipped the second cuff on, turning round to see Ziva's coat tails disappear round the pillar at the bottom of the next upwards ramp.

"Oh great," he muttered, but before he had the chance to get the other cuff secured, three gunshots echoed through the garage and his heart stopped.

"Ziva!" he shouted, but got no reply. "You, stay here," he told the Vermeijden as he quickly undid the second cuff and dragging the man across the floor of the garage, secured it around the spoke of the nearest cars alloy wheel, then set off at a run towards the next upwards ramp, gun drawn.

As he reached the top, Tony peered over the wall and found Ziva with her knee in the Corporal's back as he lay on the ground, hand cuffing him as he lay unconscious.

"Ziva are you ok?" he asked as he ran over to her, his heartbeat returning to a normal rate as he found her uninjured and Edwards' gun thrown a good few feet down the garage.

"I am fine," she replied, getting to her feet and dusting off her trousers, "the lookout however is not; I shot him in the shoulder."

As the reality of the situation suddenly hit Tony, his found that his concern for his partner's safety turned into anger and frustration.

"What did you think you were doing," he yelled at her, "there could have been more of them hiding up here waiting to pounce for all you knew!"

Ziva looked at Tony in shock, taken aback at his sudden outburst. "Its ok," she tried to placate him, "I took care of it."

"That's not the point Ziva, we shouldn't have got separated," he continued to shout; "especially somewhere like this!" he gestured around them, trying to emphasise his point.

"Why are you so angry?" she replied, beginning to get angry herself.

"Because you seem so insistent on putting yourself in harms way with little regard for your own safety just lately," he accused, pacing round in circles.

"You were just behind me Tony, and I was not intentionally putting myself in harms way," she argued, throwing her hands up in desperation as he continued to pace round her.

"Give me strength," he muttered under his breath, not meeting his partner's fiery gaze.

"I don't understand, what is with you today?" she questioned, lowering her tone in attempt to calm her partner down.

"What is with me?" Tony shouted indignantly and he stopped and turned to face her. Ziva, unable to read the expression now adorning his face found her own changing from anger to bewilderment. She could see an internal battle raging behind her partners deep green eyes but was at a loss to understand why.

"You know what….." he suddenly said, his internal battle obviously resolved he walked up to Ziva and placing a hand either side of her face he brought his lips crashing onto hers.

Ziva was in total shock as she felt Tony's lips on hers, the initial harsh contact soon softened as his caress became gentler, and his grip on her face became more delicate as he threaded his fingers through her hair.

As Tony broke the brief kiss, Ziva took a step back. As he stood there, looking at her, trying to gauge her reaction, her initial shock turned back into anger. She was annoyed that he had caught her off guard, he had kissed her, which was not how they argued, he had changed the game and not told her the rules.

"What the hell was that for?" she couldn't help but shout, demanding an answer for his actions, unable to see the underlying hurt in his eyes.

"Because you don't seem to understand why I'm mad," he replied calmly, all the anger having left him in his attempt to get her to realise what he was trying to say without using the actual words.

"How does kissing me help?" she questioned, her stubbornness leaving her either unwilling or unable to grasp what he was trying to tell her.

"I dunno," he replied, the frustration evident in his voice. He decided that it was too late to go back, so he may as well lay all his cards on the table, "I thought maybe you would realise that my feelings for you far extend the purely professional and the thought of anything happening to you makes me feel physically sick, but hey, you know, whatever, I am done with this."

With that he ripped his eyes away from hers and walked past her, back in the direction of the ramp, leaving her to stare after him, considering his words.

As she allowed Tony's words to sink in, so many emotions flooded her thoughts, but she knew that the feelings she had for him were also far from professional. Then it dawned on her, why the hell was she letting him walk away?

"Tony," she called out after him as she broke out into a run in an effort to catch him, and when he ignored her she called again, "Tony, please wait."

"What!" he exclaimed as he stopped and turned round, totally unprepared for Ziva, who had caught him up, to launch herself into his arms, flinging her arms around his neck and she pressed her lips to his. As the force of their collision compelled Tony to take a step back, he wrapped his arms around her waist, attempting to steady them both.

The nature of their embrace changed quickly from eager and urgent to slow and tender as both felt the need to savour the feel of each others lips. Tony slipped his hands beneath Ziva's coat and under the hem of her shirt, one hand tracing the dimples at the small of her back and the other ghosting a trail up her spine, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

The need for air quickly became an issue, Ziva broke the kiss, resting her forehead on Tony's as they both fought to slow their breathing and regain their composure. She gently ran her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, fighting the urge to kiss him again as their proximity and the look in his eyes was making her feel weak at the knees.

"I am sorry, Tony," Ziva whispered, staring into the swirling depths of his eyes.

"For what," he whispered in reply, his eyes following hers as they flickered between his eyes and his lips, his warm breath fanning across her face.

"We should have…..I should have…" she faltered as once again her words deserted her.

Tony loosened his grip on Ziva, creating a little more distance between them so he could properly look at her face, and the emotions playing across her features.

"The feelings I have for you also far extend the parameters of merely a friendship or partnership," she finally continued, lifting her gaze to meet his as she brought her hands to rest on his chest, "and I am sorry for making you worry about me yet again."

"I think," Tony started, removing his hands from under Ziva's shirt to take hold of hers, lacing their fingers together, "that after we go retrieve our suspects and today is over, we should go and get some dinner, and maybe talk some more?"

"I think I would like that," Ziva smiled, suddenly wishing that the day was over already, "it is lucky that Corporal Edwards is unconscious otherwise we may have some explaining to do!"

"Ha ha yeah, didn't really think about," Tony grinned, "think I let my emotions get the better of me."

"I am glad that you did," Ziva smiled, reaching up to give him one last peck on the lips before tugging his hand and leading them off in the direction of Corporal Edwards, "now come on before Gibbs wonders where we have got to."

"Yes ma'am," Tony chuckled, throwing a casual arm over Ziva's shoulder as they made their way back through the garage.

**Hope you liked, got me through my day anyway, thanks in advance for your thoughts xx**


End file.
